Dogs and Giardia

[+Criminal]

I took my puppy hiking on the Sunday the 19th. He drank water from various streams and puddles. On Friday, he had violent projectile diarrhea (VPD), I was cleaning his sleeping crate at 2am and had to bathe him. Last night it happened again, only this time he aimed his business end toward the door and got some “mess” on the family room carpet. He threw up too, both during the VPD and at other times during the week. Are the two possibly connected? Can dogs get Giardia from streams in the PNW? I was always of the theory that a dog’s stomach could handle even nuclear waste with no trouble. The vet said she isn’t sure that it is Giardia because we neglected to save a sample. He also ate an entire soggy wet rawhide bone on Tuesday or Wednesday. Anybody have any input?

 

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[+evergreenhiker!]

Hope your dog gets better soon! I did a quick google search using Giardia and dogs and here's a couple of interesting links:

http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/gia.html

 

The link above mentions strong physical activity can cause a flare up in puppies and kittens. You went on that fairly long hike so perhaps that factor kicked in?

 

The following link has some more specific information:

http://www.priory.com/vet/giardia.htm

[+CachinCin]

Hi Criminal

 

I'm visiting my parents in Wyoming right now, and my father is a veterinarian here in Laramie. This area is one of the places with the highest concentration of giardia....because there are so many elk (they carry it). He sees it all the time in dogs/puppies and cats/kittens, so I asked him for some advice, and here's what he had to say:

 

1. Usually giardia only causes diarrhea, no vomiting or sickness (although some dogs can vomit over just about anything).

 

2. You need a stool sample for the veterinarian to test for giardia. However, giardia can be very difficult to see (especially for veterinarians who don't test for it all the time). Basically, they stain the slide with lugals iodine. Giardia stains yellow, while Coccidia doesn't stain.

 

3. Giardia is generally treated with metronidizide, but there's been some resistance to it lately....so it may take more than one treatment.

 

My dad also said to make sure that your puppy didn't eat any salmon. Is there a chance that it ran into some dead salmon along a stream? Evidently, there is a really nasty bacteria that dogs can pick up from salmon. It causes sickness and severe diarrhea. It's treated with tetracycline, he thinks (not a lot of salmon here in Wyoming, but he's read about it).

 

Hope that helps!

 

Cin

[+Criminal]

Thanks CachinCin! He made it through the night OK. Like I said, we still don't know what it is exactly. Could be Giardia or that soggy rawhide stuck in his bowels. He's on the meds and eating some special food.

 

We'll see.

 

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[+Bull Moose]

Chewie has trouble once in awhile after we go into the woods. We usually just try to give him filtered and/or carried in water in his hiking dish, like most publications and my dad (who is also a veterinarian) recommend. But I'm sure you know how impossible THAT is. He seems to like some nasty water sources.

 

Anyway, hope your puppy gets better soon. There is nothing worse than hosing out a crate. (Well, there is, but it's still pretty bad.)

 

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[+Gorak]

We have two large dogs, 100 and 125 pounds, and on the advise of our veterinarian we've stopped giving them rawhide. Instead we give them hooves to chew on. They love them and their teeth are so clean they glow in the dark.

 

____________

Gorak

 

I love frogs. They taste like chicken. Yum.

 

"Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been passionate, rebellious, and immature." --Tom Robbins

[+BDC]

I have heard similar about rawhides and I don't give my dog them. Then again I spoil my dog rotten. I'm sure It was just the bone.

 

Don't hunt what you can't kill!

[+CachinCin]

quote:

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Originally posted by Bull Moose:

Chewie has trouble once in awhile after we go into the woods. We usually just try to give him filtered and/or carried in water in his hiking dish, like most publications and my dad (who is also a veterinarian) recommend. But I'm sure you know how impossible THAT is. He seems to like some nasty water sources.

 

Anyway, hope your puppy gets better soon. There is nothing worse than hosing out a crate. (Well, there is, but it's still pretty bad.)

 

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Hey BullMoose, we'll have to get together sometime and compare veterinary-kid stories. I've hosed out many a nasty crate in my day....not to mention kennel runs, exam tables, floors, steps.... (I'm sure you know all about that).

 

While we're on this subject, I'm wondering if there are other regional issues to consider. I moved here just over a year ago, and I'm used to much more arid country (desert southwest and Rocky Mountain region). Other than water and salmon, are there things for me to watch for as Aurie and I hike through the woods and on beaches?

 

Cin

[+Bull Moose]

quote:

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Originally posted by CachinCin:

Hey BullMoose, we'll have to get together sometime and compare veterinary-kid stories. I've hosed out many a nasty crate in my day....not to mention kennel runs, exam tables, floors, steps.... (I'm sure you know all about that).

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Yep. My boss is also a vet's son and it's amazing how many similar stories we have.

Being Wisconsin, my dad also did a lot of work with dairy cattle. That's also a lot of fun. (Especially calving and twisted stomach surgeries.)

 

quote:

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While we're on this subject, I'm wondering if there are other regional issues to consider. I moved here just over a year ago, and I'm used to much more arid country (desert southwest and Rocky Mountain region). Other than water and salmon, are there things for me to watch for as Aurie and I hike through the woods and on beaches?

Cin

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I've not come across any other issues that are specific to the NW. In fact it's a little nicer for outdoors dogs here as far as I can tell, because the ticks don't carry as much disease and there aren't as many sticky plant seeds to get caught in snouts.

 

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